Textbooks
by formerlyknownasone
Summary: Don't worry Oliver. You will figure it out someday." Katie smiled. Let's hope he does. Haha no longer a oneshot. Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

I**'m back Muhahaha. This was something I wrote before, and I thought it was rather cute so I decided to upload it. A fairly typical KBOW my style I guess.  
**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"Late again, Mr Wood?"

Of course he had been late. But the play he had been working on was just _too good_ to be abandoned like that. Which explained why he showed up for Potions lessons late, wheezing and out of breath.

Oliver took a quick glance at the clock in the dungeon as he wiped sweat off his brow. Eleven ten. _Crap,_ he thought inwardly, but tried to look as cool as possible.

"Perhaps you forgot that lessons start at eleven. Five points," Professor Snape said, his eyes glinting with so much malice that Oliver thought it best not to argue. Silently he walked down the aisle to the only empty seat at the back of the cold dungeon. Percy Weasley threw him his signature I-told-you-so smug look. Oliver ignored him.

Sighing, he opened up his book bag to pull out his copy of _Magical Droughts and Potions, _only to find that the rather thick textbook was visibly missing. He suddenly remembered where it was—on the Common Room table. He lent it to some fifth-year for 'light-reading'.

Snape of course, noticed this at once.

"Ah. I see that you have forgotten to bring your textbook, Mr Wood."

"Um, yes."

"Another five points then." Snape smiled at him scarily.

Oliver cursed under his breath, wondering what else the Potions Master would do to him. He wasn't the teacher's pet— that was obvious enough.

This was turning out to be a very bad day. A _very, very _bad day.

"Fortunately for you," Snape continued with a slight scorn," Another of an absent minded team member of yours have left her copy behind. Strangely, right at this table too. You may use it for the time being, and then return it." Pausing, he smiled and said "I wonder though, if forgetfulness is a trait of Gryffindors?"

Ignoring the obvious jab at him, Oliver retrieved the textbook from Snape, frowning slightly. It was a slightly battered copy of _Magical Droughts and Potions,_ with no name indication of whom it belonged to on the cover. Perhaps it was Alicia's? As he flipped through the book randomly he realised that the pages were in almost-mint condition.

Nope, it couldn't be Alicia's. She lived and breathed in her textbooks. He flipped quickly to the first page.

_Katie Bell. _

Oliver smiled, wondering why he hadn't thought all of her in the first place. After all, it was this pretty chaser who always absentmindedly left her things all over the castle. He himself had spent many good hours searching high and low for random items that she seemed to keep losing. Some of them ended up in weird places too, such as on top of the Quidditch hoops. He could never figure that one out.

The almost-mint condition inside was a dead give-away too.

"I expect you all to be competent enough to finish the Confunding Potions on page twenty two within an hour," Snape suddenly barked. Oliver realised with a jolt he hadn't been listening—he had been absorbed in admiring Katie's handwriting. Perhaps he better get started soon, before the Potions Professor picked on him again. He quickly started chopping the ingredients.

* * *

He had finished his potion within forty-five minutes with relative ease, much to his amazement. In fact, he mused, his existence in this entire class had been pretty much a joke in the first place. Nevertheless though, he had been scoring Exceeding Expectations in Potions and had the OWL to prove it.

Though the potion had been pretty basic one, many students (particularly the Slytherins) seemed to be struggling with it. This left him with pretty much fifteen minutes with nothing to do.

With decidedly nothing much to do, he flipped open Katie's copy of Potions textbook. At least, he laughed silently to himself, he would look like he was reading something school-related for a change.

For a moment he wondered whether this was considered an invasion of privacy, to be flipping through it without Katie's permission. He quickly dismissed those thoughts though, after recounting the number of times Katie simply snatched his precious playbooks against his private will and made numerous comments on the impracticality of all of them.

He casually flipped the next few pages.

There wasn't much to look at first glance. A couple of doodles consisting of mainly stick figures and broomsticks. A cat. One of a Keeper being hit by a bludger (she will pay for that one, Oliver told himself), and several signatures of her own name scattered about the page.

She had pretty nice handwriting, Oliver thought, although it was slightly more untidy than one would have expect of a girl. But the scrawl had a certain pleasing shape to it. He liked the way her 'A's and 'Q's were curled at the end.

He flipped to the next page, one supposedly used for taking down notes during lessons. Oliver was not surprised to see that it had been turn to a page used for non-classroom related purposes. He found a different loopy scrawl alongside with Katie's pretty one, writing what seems to be a conversation:

_This lesson is retarded. _

Perhaps if we spent more time listening instead of talking like we always do, we may actually find it enjoyable.

_I change my mind. __You__ are retarded, Bell. _

Then why are you the one permanently in Transfigurations remedial?

_Ouch. That hurts. At least I'm not the one having an indecent, unhealthy obsession a on certain oblivious male. _

At least he's guaranteed to be alpha male. You on the other hand…

Oliver grinned. She could be feisty when she wanted to.

The bell rang a minute later, and Oliver reluctantly put down the book. It had been very good entertainment for a change.

* * *

It was around lunch time when he spotted her dashing around the hallway. In fact, so engrossed was she in her task that she failed to notice her captain and walked passed him, unaware of his presence.

"Oi, Bell!" he called, and he watch her whirl around in surprise.

"Hi, Oliver," she greeted, looking slightly dishevelled. It was a look that suited her very nicely though. Her green eyes looked particularly bright, and the flush became her very much. "Can't stop. Got to-"

"Find your Potions Book?" he finished for her, fishing out a very-familiar looking book out of his bag. A very pleasant smile of relief broke from her face as he handed it back to her.

"Thanks," she told him gratefully, and she leaned against the corridor, trying to catch her breath. One of her dark brown curls stuck out of her head.

"Some advice for you though," Oliver said, smoothing down the offending hair to its original position," Don't decide on a future career in art. Some drawings of me in there weren't particularly flattering."

"I happen to think that they were accurate portraits," she replied, but continued to smile all the same. "I take it that you peeked into my books? Tsk, Tsk. It's called invasion of privacy."

"This is coming from a woman who barges into my room at any hour of the day without knocking the door," he retorted playfully. "Who's the one with the loopy handwriting?"

"Fred. He's my potions partner."

"Sounds fun."

"Dangerous, more like," Katie said resentfully, "You can't believe how many potions he had blown up so far! And I! I sit beside him!"

"Can you tell the twins apart by handwriting?" He asked curiously. He always supposed that the twins had similar writing styles.

"Yeah. Fred's loopy. George's one is more spiky."

"So," He asked nonchalantly, "Who's the male you have been pining after?"

"Which one?" Katie asked, confused.

"You know," Oliver said casually. "The Alpha male one you mentioned on page fifty three. The conversation with Fred. I don't suppose you remember?"

Apparently the diversion tactic didn't work.

"Curious, aren't we?" Katie said, her eyes twinkling, "Figure that one yourself. I'm surprised you haven't noticed." With that, she flounced away, heading down the hallway once more.

"Where are you going?" he asked, confused. She was dashing around the hallways again.

"To find my other textbooks. I could use some help," With that, Oliver rolled his eyes and trudged after her to help her in her hunt for another missing book.

* * *

Oliver made sure he came into Potions early the next time. He wasn't sure whether this made Snape happier or angrier.

Unfortunately, the moment Oliver sat down on his rickety stool, he realised that he had once again forgotten to bring his textbook. Merlin, he must be hanging around Katie too much. He was picking up all her little quirks.

Luckily though, he spotted a copy shoved halfway into one of the bench's drawer. He quickly pulled it out in case Snape got any more ideas and decided to deduct more points from Gryffindor. The professor passed him with a sneer on his face.

He didn't have to flip to the first page to find out who its owner was. The handwriting on the book was instantly recognisable. Oliver wondered whether this was going to become a routine for both of them. Katie forgetting her books, and he returning them to her.

There was five minutes before the start of lessons though, so he casually flipped through several pages, eagerly trying to spot any new entries.

There was one, around page thirty. Although it had not been dated, Oliver was pretty sure it was a pretty recent one. Just a badly composed rant written by Fred regarding the last Quidditch practice (He brought four bludgers for practice! Four!) and several rough caricatures of the giant squid and Snape.

The page was badly blotched though, by what seems to be quill ink. It struck Oliver as weird; Katie wasn't really the clumsy, inky-hand type, and no slob would have spilled so much ink except deliberately. Several words seem to be heavily crossed-out. In a moment of spontaneous insanity, Oliver tried to decipher the words. It seemed to be composed of solely four letters. K…B…He couldn't see the third letter, though he was almost certain that the last letter was a 'W'. But he wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure it was a _word_.

What could it mean? But before he got a chance to figure it out, the classroom door swung open again. Lessons were going to begin soon. Oliver made a mental note to think about it again.

* * *

"Hey 'Liver!"

Oliver winced at the nickname. It must be one of the twins— he just had to figure out which. Oliver wondered whether he should conduct a handwriting analysis on him. The thought made him smile a little.

"Fred here. The devilishly handsome one." The red-headed twin told him, as if guessing his thoughts. His captain had been staring at him dazedly. "Heading to lunch?"

"Yeah," and with that, the both of them headed towards the great hall.

Ten minutes passed between them in complete silence, the Scot being too wrapped up in his own thoughts while the redhead was too busy devouring lamb chops.

"Do you know we sit at the exact same seats and bench for potions?" Oliver suddenly blurt out, as if it just occur to him.

Fred looked up, his mouth full of potatoes. He wondered why that seemed to amuse his Captain so much.

"And you know this because..?"

"I found Katie's potion book in the drawer. And both of you are partners."

"Wow. Us sitting on the same seat at different time of the day. What a freaky thought." Fred mused as he received a light punch from the Captain, though still slightly confused. Why was Oliver smiling that way?

"Where is she anyway? She rarely misses lunch," Oliver wondered, earning himself another look from his lunch time companion. It was a look of confusion which turned to comprehension suddenly dawning, followed by one with a mischievous glint in it. Fred grinned.

"Probably finding a lost sock or something. I will demand an explanation for this mysterious occurrence during Charms."

"Then you can pass her back the book." Oliver said, shoving the book to the evil-looking Fred.

"Oh no Captain. You should have the honour of doing that yourself. Won't want to miss a chance like that would you?" said a laughing Fred, who threw the book back and then pretended to turn to George, who was beside him at the lunch table. Oliver didn't have a chance to reply because the two of them smirk at him before excusing themselves from the table.

There was something in Fred's grin he didn't quite trust.

* * *

She was running around again. Except this time, he caught up with her outside the Common Room.

"Looking for your book again?" he asked, and he saw her whip her head around.

"I see you got it again as well," Katie commented, smiling. "Boy am I hungry. I can't believe I didn't eat lunch."

"Neither can I, so I brought you these," Oliver told her, tossing her a brown bag. She opened it. There were two blueberry muffins. Or rather, one and a half. But she was grateful anyway.

"Thanks," she beamed, taking a large bite from one of them and sinking into the red sofa. Oliver followed suit.

"This better not become a tradition, Katie." He warned.

"Why not? You don't seem to mind it," the brunette said, smirking as she ate.

"That's because I have high tolerance for nutcases."

"You talking about me, or Fred?"

"Both. Always both." He grinned.

"That is not a compliment Wood, to classify me with his kind."

"Any idea why Fred refused to help me return you your book anyway?" Oliver asked, cocking his eyebrows quizzically. The brunette shrugged as she polished off the first muffin.

"Maybe he's afraid I would hex him."

" Nope. It was more like, I don't know. He made some random comment about missing a chance."

It was at this moment the chaser stopped eating. She turned her inquisitive green eyes to him, tapping her chin with a finger, as if making an observation.

"You haven't figured it out." Katie stated. It was a fact.

"Figure out what?" Oliver asked curiously, leaning forward. It seemed to him he couldn't decipher what any of them were saying at all. Nothing made sense.

"Even Fred figured it," She shook her head. "You must be really dense."

"I resent being classified with his kind too," Oliver frowned.

"You are not. You are much worse. Even Fred figured!"

"Figured what?" He asked confusedly. But Katie merely smiled at him, shaking her head again.

"Don't worry about it. You will figure it out someday." And then, as sudden as she had settled into the sofa, Katie stood up, pressed her lips against Oliver's forehead as she popped the last bit of muffin into his mouth and walked away.

"Thanks for the muffin!" she called out as she exited the room. But her Captain was too busy to answer.

Oliver's cheeks were still burning five minutes later.

* * *

**Kudos to me for finishing up this. I was thinking of expanding it into a small two or three shot, but I need some opinion here, so right now it's staying as a oneshot. Please please please review and tell me what you think about it.**

**I finished Breaking Dawn a week ago. I thought it was quite okay, though I have to say some parts were a bit of a let down. But overall it's quite a terrific book, and I absolutely cannot wait for the movie to come out! What do you all think of it?**

**Review!!**

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Yeah I know I said I will update my Twilight fic Lovers, Again this weekend but I couldn't resist writing a KBOW story again. It has been a really long time since I've done one and I re-read TB and decided to make it a three-or-four shot. I changed the tone slightly though. **

**So look out!**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

It was a most unusual sight. But the twenty-two pairs of eyes staring couldn't be wrong. Oliver Wood was standing outside the dungeon doors a wholefive minutes _before_ Potion lesson.

A twenty-third pair (framed with horn-rimmed glasses) popped out of its eye socket before its owner strolled up to said Keeper.

"Oliver… Are you feeling alright?" Percy Weasley asked.

The Quidditch Captain looked up from the playbook he had been reading and frowned.

"I'm perfectly fine. Why do you ask?" He raised an eyebrow. Percy was the third person who asked him that question (thereby making him the third idiot to interrupt his precious booktime. Tsk, didn't they know better by now?)

"You are here." Percy stated.

"Yes I am."

"Early?"

"That's obvious," he said dryly. Oliver leaned back onto the wall, feeling slightly bored.

"_Without_ your Potion Textbook?" Percy demanded, eyeing him up and down.

Oliver followed his gaze to the non-existent bookbag. Indeed it was not with him. He wasn't even carrying anything apart from his playbook and a quill.

"Well, I certainly am not holding one," he shrugged. Did he really need it?

"Are you sure you are all right?" the prefect pressed again.

"Of course," Oliver replied. He slammed his playbook shut. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"If you are sure," Percy said doubtfully before turning back to his Penelope Clearwater.

Sheesh. And people thought _he_ had one too many Bludger.

The bell finally rang and the dungeon door swung open. Noxious gas (From the potion, or Snape's bad breath?) and nauseated students flooded out of the classroom.

Oliver Wood barely noticed. He walked right into the dungeon. Snape, being who was, registered the fact that the Gryffindor was not armed with his books.

"Hope you do have a copy of your textbook somewhere," Snape sneered. Oliver ignored him and headed to his usual bench. The rest of the class filed in.

The table was unsurprisingly bare. However, Oliver knew better. He yanked the table's drawer open.

A tattered copy of _Magical Droughts and Potions _laid within.

Oliver grinned. Thank god. He had been relying on the fact that his absent-minded chaser would forget to bring it along with her. A la Katie style.

A small torn piece of parchment fell out from between the pages, and Oliver bent down to retrieve the note. It was folded pretty tightly into a very small square. He cocked an eyebrow as he examined it.

Ooh. Top secret. Cheesy.

Immediately he yanked the note open.

_Oliver,_

_I'm pretty sure you didn't bring your textbook, whether intentional or not. Just take mine. We don't want our Keeper getting into more trouble with Snape… Unless I get to witness it._

_xoxo_

_K. _

_P.S. Turn to page two hundred thirty four. Use the back of this note instead. Trust me, it helps._

Smiling, he flipped to the page Katie instructed him to.

He chucked the book onto the table so that Snape could see that did have a copy of the precious textbook after all.

The Potions professor walked past without a word. Oliver smirked. The satisfaction was there, definitely.

"Psst!"

Percy Weasley behind him was now looking at him, nonplussed. The Keeper leaned back on the two hind legs of his stool complacently, looking as cool as cucumbers.

"Yeah?" He cocked his head at Percy.

"How did you get your Potions Textbook here? You weren't carrying any!" The Headboy hissed accusingly.

"Magic," He told Percy smugly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "After all, that's what we come to Hogwarts for."

That shut the redhead up pretty quickly.

"But… You didn't… I didn't hear you say anything," Percy stammered, looking dumbstruck.

"That's right," he confirmed, keeping a straight face. "I didn't."

Percy Weasley was speechless.

"Better listen to Snape," Oliver added casually. "Don't want to get into anymore trouble."

* * *

There wasn't time to talk anyway. Snape glided to the front of the dungeon again. He seemed to be in an even more sour mood than usual.

"Silence!" he threatened menacingly even though it was still you could hear the bending of broom twigs. "I had enough."

Oliver pretended to pay attention. He tried not to focus on Katie Bell's note.

"We are going to do something… More complex today," the slimy git went on, his voice silky. "It's extremely complicated and difficult. Most of you probably won't even get something near the actual results."

He grinned. Sounds exactly like page two hundred and thirty-four.

"Flip to page two hundred and thirty-four."

His book was already opened up to that page. Lucky guess. Not.

"And begin."

The class went into some sort of frenzy. Many were quickly chopping up the potion ingredients. Some were busy wiping off sweat as they started a fire.

Only Oliver stood up with a chuckle and pulled out a crumpled not from his pocket.

* * *

He was whistling happily when he met Angelina crawling out of the Portrait hole along the hallway.

"Angelina," he greeted warmly. He felt a certain fondness for this girl in a Fred-way. She was the one who took his side the most often when he demanded another dawn practice. And she turned up on time to boot. Too bad she had extremely bad taste in men.

"Ol," she nodded. "Good day?"

"You can tell?"

She rolled her eyes. "Wood, you are postitvely _radiating_ happiness."

Was he? "At least I have something to be glad about. Seen Katie?"

The chaser motioned to the portrait. "Busy retrieving scattered items around the Common Room."

He shook his head. What else could he expect her to be doing?

"Have you seen Fred?" she asked.

"George and he said something about pranking Flint and Higgs."

"Damn!" she sighed frustratedly. "You are Captain. Can't you keep them out of trouble?"

"Who do you think gave them full permission to do it?" He snorted. "Besides, he's bad news. But he's _your_ bad news,"

"I could say the same for you," Angelina shot back and scurried down the hall, giving a small wave of goodbye to Oliver.

He wondered what she meant by that comment, but decided not to think about it.

"Iway ovelay ymay Idditchquay aptaincay," he told the Fat Lady's Portrait (and wondering why she had to choose such a long password). It swung open and Oliver entered the Common room, searching for his target.

A blur of school robes and dark hair blew past him. It didn't take him more than two seconds to realize this was who he was seeking.

The sight of Katie Bell dashing all over the room with a mad expression on her face was too entertaining to miss. She was diving onto all the study tables and searching beneath the piles of books, chucking textbooks one by one onto the floor. Occasionally she missed and tripped over a pile of books (which she had chucked onto the floor).

The area looked like a tornado went past it, leaving a trail of disaster behind. And Katie was the tornado.

He plopped onto the couch instead, choosing to watch this amusing scene unfold before his eyes.

"Something funny, Captain?" his chaser suddenly asked. She didn't even shift her gaze from the table. She threw various textbooks across the room, her bright green eyes focused on her task. Her face was slightly flushed.

"How did you know it was me?" He asked, instantly getting up and standing beside her.

Katie stopped and looked at Oliver. "Because no one else's ass is so fat that they land so heavily on the couch," she grinned.

"I happen to know I have a pretty good piece of ass," he said smugly.

She leaned behind and peered. "Fine then," She smiled evilly. "Nice rear."

"I don't play Quidditch all day for nothing you know. There are certain benefits."

Katie wasn't listening—she was busy climbing onto a chair near a bookshelf. She stood on her tip-toes and pulled a heavy looking book from under Merlin's bust.

"Found it!" Katie cried happily as she got off the chair.

"How did it even end up there?" Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's just say some of us will go through desperate measures to avoid homework. Why are you looking for me?"

"Who said I was looking for you?" He countered. She rolled her eyes slightly.

"Fine then." Katie shrugged. "I will go to the library. Got some Potions homework to do."

"And you can do it without this?" He questioned with a smile on his handsome face, unzipping his bag and pulling out her textbook."

"Almost forgot about it," she admitted, taking her textbook back from the Keeper. "Not that I need it though. Some of us are gifted you know."

"I'm extreme adept in potion-making."

"Speaking of that…" she said, putting her hands on her hips, leaning in. "Don't you have something to say?"

"Like what?" Oliver asked innocently, smirking this time.

Katie glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest (Oliver couldn't help thinking she looked kind of pretty even when she was pretending to be crossed). He felt extremely tempted to go on with the innocent look, but decided it wasn't worth it. Better get the gloating over and done with.

"Fine," he conceded, looking at his complacent chaser. "I am eternally grateful for your help. Thanks to you and your lovely note giving me shortcuts on how to prepare the potion, I was the only one who aced through Potions today."

This part was extremely true. When he had flipped over the note Katie stuffed inside her Potion Book, he found a set of instructions depicting how to make an Anxiety Potion, the very one that was outlined on page two hundred and thirty four.

Except they weren't the same instructions. Or ingredients.

"I'm surprised you followed it," Katie remarked. "Weren't you scared that your potion would blow up or something?"

"I trusted that you didn't want to spend the next practice doing hundred laps around the field ."

"So what did Snape do?" she asked eagerly, looking at her bemused friend.

"He started to twitch a little and mumbled something under his breatj. I did the concerned act and asked whether he accidentally inhaled a little of Flint's Anxiety potion," he grinned.

She burst into laughter.

"How did you get know a shortcut to that potion anyway?" Oliver asked curiously, leaning slightly towards Katie.

She smiled. "When you are friends with Fred Weasley, nothing is exactly impossible."

"Then why is he failing Potions?" he asked doubtfully.

"Duh. Snape will get suspicious. Besides, he doesn't exactly need a NEWT for Potions to open a joke shop," she said, pausing thoughtfully. "Plus he always forgets when is the next lesson."

"Ah. But how did you know what will Snape be doing in my class?"

"What is this? Twenty Questions?" Katie snorted in a very unladylike manner. "And I will have you know that Snape isn't very creative with lesson planning… He makes most of his class prepare the same potion."

Oliver reflected for a moment. "Well, at least one good thing came out of it."

"Just one?" Katie pretended to look offended. "And what is that?"

"Percy thinks I am some sort of Wizarding God."

Her interest was piqued. "Oh?" she asked, her green eyes sparkling. "Why?"

Oliver chuckled. "He thought I did one of those fancy silent spell casting and summoned a textbook when he saw I didn't bring my copy of textbook to class. Then he saw that I flipped to the correct page before Snape even told us what we were doing. And oh, I was the only one who did a decent potion in the entire class. He's therefore convinced I'm some genius."

"So now he thinks you are some powerful Merlin reincarnate?"

"Some powerful Merlin reincarnate _with Quidditch skills_," he corrected.

"Well, I wouldn't be too happy about that," she said dryly.

He frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, let me put it this way… Do you really want Percy Weasley staring furtively at you every minute and throwing you challenging gazes and competitive looks during lessons and lunch?"

Oliver's eyes widened as it dawned on him.

"Shit."

"I know," Katie said sympathetically, patting his back.

* * *

She wasn't in the Common Room like Oliver expected her to be. She wasn't in the Quidditch field either. Neither was she in the bathroom.

No. Katie Bell was outside of his Potions classroom right now, waiting patiently for him to come out. Just a few feet and one wall away from him. And he was dying to get there.

Or at least that what she had said. Right there on page eighty one of textbook, where she had scribbled beside today's assignment.

_Cap'n_, she had written. He had almost grunted at that. She had taken to calling him that lately. He preferred it when Katie called him Oliver—much more personal. Or just perhaps his name sounded better from the slight lilt in her voice.

_No cheats for today, sorry! Fred forgot. I drew some stick figures of F and G drowning in the cauldron to entertain you instead. _

_I will be waiting for you outside your class today. So until then!_

_Can't wait to see you,_

_Katie _

_P.S. I ran out of parchment._

He wondered throughout the whole lesson why she had come. Perhaps she wanted to talk to him. He smiled, and his heart skipped a beat at the thought of that.

Oliver sneaked a peek at the clock. Only five minutes more till the end of lesson. Was it just him, or was Potions was dreadfully slow today?

He passed his time by looking at the little cartoon she had drawn. One of the stick figures had bug eyes and was being eaten by the piranha. The other was foaming in the mouth.

He added more piranhas in the drawing. Then he drew a bespectacled stick figure, circled it and wrote_ Hope that's Percy _beside it.

The minute the bell rang Oliver was out of his seat. He was anxious to get out of class.

The hallway was crowded with students flooding out of the various classrooms. Oliver couldn't see Katie at all. He glanced around for the sight of her familiar dark hair. She wasn't exactly tall. He stepped aside, letting the other tired Seventh Years pass through.

And nearly knocked into said person, who was glancing about in all direction except his.

"Looking for somebody?" he asked. She whirled around and caught sight of Oliver.

"Yeah," she said breathlessly. "I found you… But I haven't seen_ him_ yet."

He frowned.

"But— "

"Shh! There he is!"

At that moment Percy Weasley walked past. He threw Oliver a challenging look before flashing his perfect Potions mark not-so-subtly in front of him.

Katie laughed. "Sorry, I just had to catch a glimpse of his expression."

"You came all the way here to look at him?" He questioned incredulously.

"It was worth it," she said matter-of-factly.

"I'm hurt."

"You are not Oliver. I can see your eyes glittering with mirth."

"It was a nice try," he shrugged. "Do you know how hard it is to brew a potion while someone is constantly throwing you superior looks?"

"No, that's why I had to witness it first-hand." They both walked back to the Common Room.

"You know, I never did get the new Common Room password," he said conversationally. "It's really a mouth-full and exceptionally tongue-tying."

She raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't know?"

"I know it's an awfully long bunch of gibberish."

"It's not." For some reason the corner of Katie's lip started lifting. "I chose the password."

"And it's actually supposed to mean something?"

"Yep." She popped the 'p'.

He waited for her to say something. She didn't.

"Well? Aren't you gonna tell me?" Oliver asked, glancing at his smug chaser.

She grinned. "Nope. You got to figure it out by yourself."

They walked in silence now. It was a comfortable one. Oliver liked it. Her presence radiated ease and grace. It was extremely soothing. In fact, he enjoyed it almost too much.

But still he couldn't resist asking a question.

"You mind if I ask something?" Oliver asked offhandedly.

She was digging through her oversized bag, searching for yet again something.

"Shoot."

"I'm curious. Who exactly is that Alpha male you wrote about in your book?"

"Which one?" She asked perplexedly. He gave her a pointed look.

"I asked you about him before," he said as casually as he could. "Last week. The one you and Fred were writing about."

"Oh." She smiled, looking up at him as if she caught on to something. She leaned in towards him. "Promise not to tell?" she asked in a whisper.

Her sudden proximity threw him. His heart stopped.

"Promise," he told her, his voice unconsciously mimicking her's.

Katie leaned towards him again, closer, closer, until she was a mere two inches away from him. He tried to concentrate as she cupped her hand around his ears, her breath tickling his ears.

"Cedric Diggory."

Her answer shocked him. He jerked back.

She was bursting into laughter now. "Well, you asked."

He was back to his crappy mood. "Why the hell would you like Cedric Diggory?"

"He's nice, really good-looking and really smart," she said plaintively. "Who wouldn't like him?"

"Me."

"Why not?"

"I would like someone whose a bit more challenging. Or interesting." _Like me_, he added silently.

"You aren't a girl," Katie replied dreamily, waving her hand. "You wouldn't get it. He's just so… good-looking. A real suave gentlemen."

"That's all probably part of his ploy to get the girls." Oliver said viciously.

"It's not," she said assuredly. "I went out with him before."

"You went out with him before?" He said, shocked.

"Last year. It was fun," Katie said. He ignored her.

"I bet he's a wanker."

"Probably after some of ours plays—"

"Oliver I—"

"Cannot trust a Hufflepuff even—"

"He—"

"Must be a player like Davies," he continued muttering.

"_Oliver_."

He turned to look at Katie. She looked highly amused

"You haven't it out," she sighed, tossing her head.

"Figure what out?" He said frustratedly.

Katie Bell didn't answer. Instead she stopped walking and turned to look at Oliver.

"That note was written last year," she finally said, looking meaningfully at him.

His attention was caught again. "What?"

"In other words… I have moved on."

"What does that mean?" He asked in a whisper.

It seemed to take her forever to reply. She was looking at him with her great green eyes, tilting her head slightly, her lips threatening to curve up. She looked absolutely bloody ridiculously lovely, and this fact made him nervous.

"It means," she smiled coyly. "I like someone else now."

His heart thumped again.

"Who?" He gulped.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." She kissed him on the cheek but he wasn't distracted.

"Who?" He persisted.

"I will give you a hint about something… The Gryffindor password."

That threw him off again.

"What about it? What had that had to do with _anything_?" he asked, confused. She wasn't making sense. He couldn't see the connection

She ignored his question. "It's in Pig Latin."

And then, Katie Bell flounced away before he could say anything else.

"You haven't answered any of my question!" He hollered.

She turned her head mid-run and blew him a kiss. "Don't worry," she shouted back. "Someday you will figure it out!"

That night Oliver Wood opened up Katie's Potions textbook and flipped to page eighty one again. This time he crossed out Percy's name and wrote the words 'Cedric Bloody Diggory' instead.

* * *

**I seriously hope the KBOW community hasn't forgotten me after more than to years of loyalty to this ship. Even though th****ere's totally a good reason to.**

**I have recently opened a Facebook account. I know, how lag am I to be now when the rest of the world started years ago. I didn't even do it until my friends forced me to. Perhaps I'm a techno-resistant. **

**Anyway I would love to make more friends so if you want to FB me, do leave your email or something in your review or PM and I will try and add you! I would love having some ff friends around, so yeah.**


End file.
